Day two at the Bindass Fully Fantastic Stage truly lived up to the stage’s name. With a slow start escalating to the level of fantastic with Swarathma’s set, and peaking with the beautiful closing performance by PINKNOISE, the second day’s proceedings were just what the doctor ordered to round off the third and final edition of the Bacardi NH7 Weekender 2012.

The Shakey Rays
Chennai alt-rockers The Shakey Rays kicked off the proceedings at the Bindass Fully Fantastic stage, drawing a fairly large crowd for the first slot. The four-piece act played an efficient set, marred with sound issues for its entirety – yet having mostly a good time on stage. The band showed a marked improvement since the last time we saw them perform in Mumbai, at the Blue Frog. Had it not been for an underwhelming mix on the PA, the band would’ve made for a memorable opening on the second day of the festival. The band’s setlist included ‘Who Do You Love’, ‘Down The Drain’, ”Sleeping In The Back of A Car’ and a cover of The Velvet Underground.

The Shakey Rays

The Bicycle Days
Bangalore alt-psych rockers charged through their set and gave the home crowd what they came for. Having not gigged for a while, the band is making a strong comeback, proof of which was last evening’s set. The band played a good mix of old and new songs, including material from their debut EP 42 and what should be tracks from the band’s debut record. The quartet’s unique style of fusing rock and electronics, creating a strange psychedelic soundscape makes for enjoyable listening. The band’s setlist included ’27′, ‘Conundrum’ (which also featured on their Chaiwala Session) and ‘Crawl’ on it.

The Bicycle Days

Galeej Gurus
The Bangalore alt-rockers brought their A-game to the festival. While the band did have a large audience watching the set with deep interest, a trimming of their guitar excesses would have made for a more enjoyable set. Guitarist Naveen Thomas played almost the entire set with one broken string; “I won’t need it anyway,” he said to a friend in the front row. The setlist included ‘Physiological Breakdown’, ‘Full Meals By The Wayside’ and a cover of Wolfmother’s ‘Joker And The Thief’.

Galeej Gurus

Swarathma
The Bangalore folk-rockers played a massive set to a few people, which by the end of the set, felt like half the attendees of the festival were at the stage to watch them. The ghodi (we caught it chilling backstage) made an appearance after six months of hiding, considering the gig was at the Embassy International Riding School. The band’s setlist included a balanced mix of material from both their albums, and the amazing remix of ‘Naane Daari’ featuring Sahej Bakshi aka Dualist Inquiry. The folk-rockers made for more than just a memorable performance, with reworked version of songs off their debut record and a strange, seamless sense of harmony weaving every bit of the performance together. If I may add, the set was a personal highlight in the 2012 gig calendar. Setlist highlights were ‘Patte Saare’, ‘Naane Daari’, ‘Koorane’, ‘E Bhoomi’ and ‘Pyaar Ke Rang’.

Swarathma

PINKNOISE and Friends
“I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve been hearing basslines through the set,” said Jayashree Singh, right before the band’s last song. Kolkata rockers PINKNOISE played a beautiful, slightly delayed, set dedicated to the memory of their late bassist Gyan Singh. The band’s set included appearances from friends coming on to a play a song that were either dedicated to Singh or music that he had come to love over the years. Randolph Correia, Susheela Raman, Sam Mills, Bruce Lee Mani, Karan Joseph and Warren Mendonsa joined the band on stage for collabs. The setlist included some originals, and a bunch of covers including a haunting cover of Hendrix’s classics ‘Voodoo Child’ feat. Susheela Raman on vocals, ‘Hey, Joe!’ with Mani on guitars and a reworked Stevie Wonder song.

At one instance, after finishing ‘Little Man’, Jayashree Singh said that is was one of Gyan Singh’s favourite songs – but also that he was no little man. “He was a big man, with a big heart,” and that’s probably what was right with last night’s show – it had a big heart.